Finish Line
by Shikoku
Summary: A typical day for Ryoga becomes less than typical.


THE FINISH LINE

By Shikoku

NOTE: All characters are created by Rumiko Takahashi. In no way, do I claim them as my own.

The sun shone brightly one morning in Nerema. It's rays found their way to Akane Tendo's window. The light pushed through right into the sleeping girl's eyes. She tried to push the light away, but the light wouldn't relent. The light won, and she awoke. Akane sat up and yawned. She gazed around her bright, shiny room, before noticing the little black pig that was asleep next to her. She smiled. Gently, Akane placed her hand on the sleeping pig's head, waking him from his slumber.  
P-chan. "P" for "pig" and "chan" for "cute", as Akane had explained.  
Momentarily disorientated, the pig glanced around trying to figure out where he was. At the sight of Akane, P-chan remembered and relaxed. If pigs couldn't smile, P-chan gave a close semblance to one.  
He yawned, showing the fangs that made him unique...among other things. Akane didn't realize that pigs didn't usually have fangs. She never thought about it, really. She thought they made him look cute.  
Akane began to undress to get ready for school. She didn't notice P-chan blushing. She didn't see him turn around to face the wall, like a gentleman. Instead, she just put on her robe and left the room to take her bath.  
P-chan sat alone in her room, thankful she hadn't tried to take him with her. P-chan hated water.  
But only when Akane was around.  
He let his senses tell him where the rest of the family was. He smelled the breakfast Kasumi was cooking. He heard the sounds of fighting in the backyard, which told him that Ranma and Genma were practicing, again. Soun was no doubt reading his morning paper, and Nabiki was probably getting dressed to leave for school early to blackmail someone or sell one of Onno-Ranma or Akane's pictures to Kuno.  
Yes, P-chan had been here long enough to know the family he had adopted. He knew them, but few knew him. Probably only Ranma understood him... but never completely. Ranma was never lost. Ranma was never lonely. Ranma was not a pig.  
P-chan glanced around the room which he had been staying in for the last few months. It was almost a year since the day Akane had first found him here. He had been lost., as he was always lost, but Akane had found him. P-chan still got lost, but now he had Akane to try to get back to, nothing else mattered. He loved her, in a way he had never loved anyone before. He was willing to die for her sake. He was even prepared to sacrifice his own happiness for her own happiness if the need came.  
He prayed that it wouldn't come to that.  
But not even Akane knew him, not completely. She only knew a part of him. The part P-chan never liked. One he hated so much he had vowed to make the person who did this to him pay.  
Ranma Saotome.  
She knew his better part, his real self, but she did not recognize him as her pet. P-chan hoped she never would. But he couldn't help but wish that Akane would love and. accept him anyway, as she did now.  
A wish which had no chance of ever being granted.  
Humming to herself, Akane returned. Glistening black, her hair was still damp from her bath, but she had neatly brushed it until it shined. Her bathrobe was still wrapped tightly around her. Again, P-chan turned as she started to get dressed. Again, Akane didn't notice P-chan's actions.  
She slips on her school uniform: a white blouse under a blue-green jumper. All of the girls at Furinkan High--with the exception of Ukyo Kuanji-- wore this outfit, but P-chan always thought Akane looked the best in it.  
Akane was not "uncute" in P-chan's eyes.  
Akane laughed as she finally noticed P-chan facing the wall, but she didn't think it was strange. Carefully, she picked him and carried him downstairs. P-chan enjoyed Akane's closeness, but no matter how close he was to her, she was still so far away. A race that's finish line was in sight, but no matter how much he ran, it is still far ahead of him, forever out of reach.  
He felt the motion of Akane walking, protectively holding him so not to let him fall. P-chan never thought he would get used to having someone carry him, but he had grown used to the sensation, grown to enjoy it, in fact. But he was still willing to give it up to be whole once more.  
Akane entered the dining room. P-chan saw her eyes glance around the room falling on each member of her family. Soun still reading his paper, Kasumi ready to serve, Nabiki impatiently waiting for everyone to come so she could eat, Akane glanced at each one, but her eyes still searched for a particular face.  
Finally, her eyes lit up as Ranma Saotome entered the room from the backyard. She gazed at him for a moment, before remembering where she was. She, pointedly, ignored him, once again. But P-chan had seen that look, the look that she had given Ranma, both subconsciously and consciously…when he deserved it, ever since he could remember. If P-chan would have confronted her about that look, Akane would have denied it, vehemently. But P-chan did not want to confront her with this. He was afraid of the answers he may get.  
Akane focused on her breakfast and feeding her pet. P-chan enjoyed mealtimes, for Akane spoon fed him, another thing he had grown used to.  
While he ate, P-chan noticed Ranma sitting across from them. He was staring at Akane, the same look Akane had given him earlier. P-chan scowled. Ranma was always looking at Akane that way, when she wasn't looking. When she was looking at him, he just acted the way he usually did: like a jerk. Once again, P-chan wondered why Akane had to fall in love with him. P-chan hated to admit it, but he knew it was true. Akane loved that jerk.  
P-chan couldn't see anything good about Ranma Saotome. He was arrogant and cocky, rude and brash. He claimed to never fight girls, but he still treated them, badly. He collected fiancees like a young boy collects baseball cards. He then strings them along, giving them hope that one day he'll be theirs, wasting their lives, all because he refused to make the decision that would free them.  
Thinking these thoughts, P-chan narrowed his eyes in anger, glaring at Ranma, wishing looks could kill.  
The glare didn't go unnoticed. Ranma saw the look the little black pig was giving him and returned it full force. Only Ranma knew P-chan. The Creator always recognizes the creation. Accident or not, Ranma made P-chan into who he is. P-chan hated him for it.  
P-chan hated himself.  
P-chan returned his focus on the conversation around the table. He wondered if his real family had ever talked like this. He doubted it. His family was not a normal family. He barely knew them anymore. P-chan had come to think of this family as his own.  
Soon, breakfast was over, and Nabiki, Ranma, and Akane had to leave for school. Before leaving, Akane again cradled P-chan into her arms and carried him up to her room. She smiled, reassuring him that she would return. Her smile brightened, as he nodded his head in understanding. Akane didn't realize that most pets don't answer their owners.  
P-chan watched her leave, sad that he couldn't follow. He didn't belong to where she was going, not anymore.  
He managed to hop onto the windowsill and looked out seeing Akane set out for school with Ranma. He watched as they argued lightly, as they ran, Ranma balanced on the fence, Akane on the sidewalk, below him. In others eyes they were a cute couple, P-chan couldn't see it. He knew they never wanted their engagement, hated it, in fact. P-chan shook his head, wondering how a "cute couple" could argue so much. All they did was fight and insult each other, occasionally, everyday, Akane hitting Ranma with her mallet, but even P-chan knew that deep inside, the two loved each other. He hoped he was wrong.  
P-chan sighed in defeat, as he jumped down from the windowsill and lied down on Akane's bed. He was still exhausted from walking all night before finding Akane again. Lost as usual. P-chan wondered if he had ever spent a day in his short life not lost.  
Perhaps his dreams may prove brighter than reality.  
Once again, he saw himself running on the beach towards the woman he loved. Akane ran towards him, as well, calling out his name. They were about to meet, but then Ranma appeared, knocking him aside, catching Akane as she ran into his arms. They hugged, oblivious to P-chan struggling to get off the ground. The couple ran off together, leaving P-chan face down in the sand, being trampled to death as a group of pigs marched on top of him.  
P-chan woke up with a start. Pigs. P-chan seethed, wondering why it always had to be pigs. P-chan hated pigs.  
He got up and stretched, jumping to the floor below. He exited Akane's room and walked down the unfamiliar halls. He had been living here for months, and everything still looked unrecognizable in his eyes. He found the kitchen, the guest room, the hall closet, the dojo, Okinawa, and Akane's room again before finding his intended destination: the bathroom.  
P-chan went through the routine of nudging the door open with his snout and later, after waddling in, pushing it shut. He hopped onto the stool by the bathtub and nudged the hot water faucet on. Patiently, he waited as the tub filled with water before jumping in.  
Instead of the little, black piglet, a young man with his unruly, black hair controlled by the bandanna which had originally been located around P-chan's neck, resurfaced. He stopped the water, then lay back soaking in the warm water. He enjoyed any chance of relaxation, having few in his troubled, young life. There he lay, before noticing the time and standing up; the water dripping down his strong, athletic body, a martial artist's body. His hardened, calloused hand unplugged the drain. As the water departed, he found his hidden clothes and began to dress. He wore a well-worn yellow peasant shirt, black pants tied at the shins, and a heavy backpack filled with the necessities of a life lived on the road. On top of the backpack rested a red bamboo umbrella both a weapon and protection from the elements that should try to harm him.  
Dressed once again, the boy departed the bathroom, careful not to be seen as he left the house. He found himself outside without much trouble. However, he was not ready to leave, just yet. With graceful agility, he jumped onto the roof where he sat to watch the world go by. He often came up here to think, to plan his next move. This time he wasn't sure what to do next.  
He sat there for some time before he heard familiar bickering coming from the streets below. Having caught his attention, the boy watched as Ranma and Akane returned from school. The scene was the same as this morning, Ranma on the fence, Akane on the ground, but this time, they weren't in a hurry, and they were smiling rather than scowling at each other. The boy watched as Ranma said something to Akane, which caused her to blush and smile wider. Ranma then hopped off the fence and joined Akane on the ground. Together, they entered their home, never noticing the boy on the roof above them.  
The boy looked thoughtfully at the spot he had last seen the couple. Nodding to himself, he stood up, knowing it was time for him to leave. Gracefully, he leaped off the roof, landing easily on the street below. He shouldered his pack and turned to take one last look at the place he had thought of as home. He knew he didn't belong here, not really. But in a way it would always be home. He was P-chan, for better or worse.  
He wondered, briefly, if anyone would miss him.  
He wondered if he should say goodbye.  
He wondered if it really mattered.  
Turning, the boy known to some as P-chan walked away. All he had was what he carried on his back and a few memories, some good, some bad, some a mixture of both, in his heart. He didn't know where he was going. He rarely did. All he knew was that he had to keep going, until he finally crossed that finish line.  
Ryoga Hibiki just wished he knew where or what it was.

THE END

Okay, I'm not really sure where that came from. I wanted to do something about Ryoga's typical day as P-chan, but it turned into this. I love it when fanfics do that! Anyway, I hoped you liked it. I wanted to tell a story without dialogue. Did it work? Oh, by the way, it was originally my first songfic, but I edited it out for story was written seven years ago.


End file.
